January 2016

Fiscal Monitor for April – November 2015

The federal government posted a surplus of $0.4 in November 2015, compared to a deficit of $.6 billion in November 2014.  As a result, there was a surplus of $1.0 billion for the first eight months of 2015-16, compared to a deficit of $3.3 billion in the same period in 2014-15.

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IN SEARCH OF A DOMESTIC GROWTH STRATEGY

Last week the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, warned Canadians that they should get used to a low dollar, since this was a normal and, indeed, the necessary response to a global reduction in oil and commodity prices.  The necessary adjustment in the economy from the resource sectors to the non-resource sectors could take at least five years, perhaps longer. Private sector forecasters are starting to recognize this. They are again cutting their growth forecasts for 2016 to below 2 percent.

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